Mnemonic comic for

Translation

dāo = d + ao1: knife / blade / single-edged sword / cutlass / CL:把[ba3] / (slang) dollar (loanword) / classifier for sets of one hundred sheets (of paper) / classifier for knife cuts or stabs

Mnemonic

A mnemonic is a short, deliberately ridiculous scene, built to be hard to forget. Who appears in it and where it takes place are how the pronunciation is stored; the objects in it stand for the parts the character is written with. That is the Marilyn Method, and the comic below is the same scene, drawn.

Mnemonic symbol: 刀 looks like a cleaver (while 刂 looks like a kitchen knife).

Don Quixote (d) serves his good deed of the day in front of the aorta (ao1). In order to feed the people, he uses a plow (㇆) to dig up bananas (丿), and cuts them into slices with a broad cleaver (刀).

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Comments

Many thanks to https://openclipart.org/artist/iglooo101 for uploading this cleaver to https://openclipart.org/detail/19129/cleaver

Matthias, about 2 years ago

How to pronounce 刀

MandarinBanana teaches pronunciation with the Marilyn Method: every Pinyin syllable is one initial plus one final, the initial becomes a person, an animal or a deity, and the final becomes a place in your memory palace — with the tone deciding which part of that place the scene happens in. Remember the little story below for each half and the whole syllable comes back with them.

= d initial

D is for Don Quixote.

By Matthias • updated 3 months ago
+ ao1 final

In front of the aorta.

By Matthias • updated 5 months ago

刀 character breakdown

Chinese characters are built out of smaller characters. Each component carries a mnemonic symbol - one concrete object that stands in for it - and a mnemonic story hands those objects to the person and the place that stand for the pronunciation. Learn a component once and every character that reuses it gets easier.

Component Translations
Character component without intrinsic meaning
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丿
piě = pi + e3
radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 4) / see 撇[pie3]
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Characters with 刀 as component

chǒu = ch + ou3
clown / 2nd earthly branch: 1-3 a.m., 12th solar month (6th January to 3rd February), year of the Ox / ancient Chinese compass point: 30°
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chǒu = ch + ou3
shameful / ugly / disgraceful
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shào = sh + ao4
surname Shao / name of an ancient state that existed in what is now Shaanxi Province
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Words with 刀

show 214 more
scissors / CL:把[ba3]
knife / CL:把[ba3]
cutting edge or point of a knife, sword or tool
Sentences with 刀
ǎn
lǎo
sūn
de
huán
dāo
lái

Want to remember 刀 for good?

Make it your learning target and MandarinBanana works out the shortest route to it: the two sounds its syllable is built from, then the components of the character itself, one short step at a time. No account needed to start.

dāo

knife / blade / single-edged sword / cutlass / CL:把[ba3] / (slang) dollar (loanword) / classifier for sets of one hundred sheets (of paper) / classifier for knife cuts or stabs

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